


time in a bottle

by asphodellae



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Almost death, Established Relationship, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Gods, Happy Ending, Immortality, M/M, no one actually dies, okay maybe it hurts just a little
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:27:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25645030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asphodellae/pseuds/asphodellae
Summary: Somewhere in the human realm, Kageyama Tobio was on his deathbed, and Hinata was here, talking to the first random immortal that walked up to him. The silver-haired- why is his hair spiked like that?- immortal sits against the wall, legs splaying out on the floor like a child, and looks at him with golden-flecked eyes that know."This is what it's like to be at the top of the world. You can do everything you'd like. You have all the time in the world.""But everyone, without fail, will leave you eventually. They will die, and you will remain. Decade after decade. Centuries turning into millennia. And you will still be here."
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Comments: 1
Kudos: 16





	time in a bottle

**Author's Note:**

> if i could make days last forever,  
> if words could make wishes come true,  
> i'd save every day like a treasure and then  
> again, i would spend them with you

"Since the moment you were made immortal you were doomed to this fate, young one."

The young immortal sinks his head into his hands. Somewhere in the human realm, Kageyama Tobio was on his deathbed, and Hinata was here, talking to the first random immortal that walked up to him. The silver-haired- why is his hair spiked like that?- immortal sits against the wall, legs splaying out on the floor like a child, and looks at him with golden-flecked eyes that know.

"This is what it's like to be at the top of the world. You can do everything you'd like. You have all the time in the world."

"But everyone, without fail, will leave you eventually. They will die, and you will remain. Decade after decade. Centuries turning into millennia. And you will still be here."

"Why do you think God stays in heaven? Because they are afraid of what they have created?"

A pregnant pause.

"No. They might be surprised from time to time, but no. They stay up there because they know all too well how you feel, young one. They wore your shoes, once."

"They forbade me from telling the details, but I am their closest friend, their only confidant. I suppose just this once couldn't hurt. I think they'd see you in themself."

“To disguise themself amongst the mortals, God hid their divine power and adopted a human name and face. They adapted to human society, taking the name Akaashi and using he/him pronouns, although God barely understood why it mattered so much to the humans.”

“Akaashi worked at a bar. He saw the best and worst of humanity, surprised at none of it, and fond of the best. Even the scariest looking people, Akaashi found, were capable of showing great empathy and compassion.”

“One day, on his way home from work, there was a kitten. Abandoned by the trash cans behind the bar, battered and cold, but still breathing. A man, a regular at Akaashi’s bar, was shuffling nervously in front of it.”

“The man noticed Akaashi, looked at him with pleading eyes, and said, ‘If I don’t save her, who will?’”

“Akaashi was God. He could bend reality to his will. He could do anything he wanted. He shouldn’t spend time with humans. God forbid- haha- Akaashi develops an attachment and gets hurt when they eventually die. Every immortal and deity that came after him knew this. Rule number one of being immortal: don’t make friends with a mortal. Someone who can die is already dead. Don’t get close, don’t get attached.”

“But the man looked at Akaashi with eyes that dug deep into his soul, or whatever he had on the inside, believing him to be nothing but the guy who made damn good drinks every Friday night, and suddenly Akaashi’s feet were rooted to the ground as the man continued.”

The other man gives Hinata a smile, full of an emotion he can’t name. “He said, ‘I don’t trust myself behind the wheel right now, and I know you’re just getting off of work, my guy, but please. I know a twenty-four-hour emergency vet around here. Help me save her?’”

“There were rules. God knew the rules. Akaashi steeled himself and opened his mouth to say no. But Akaashi looked at the other man. A tiny, hopeful smile scrunched the corners of his eyes, his face was flushed a soft pink from the alcohol, and the man’s hair was tousled and messy in every sense of the word, but the clarity in his eyes held strong. Akaashi had served this man _so many_ drinks that night. It was a wonder how he wasn’t drunk off his ass. But he was sobering himself, forcing himself to remain rational, all for a dirty little kitten, halfway to death in the alley behind a bar..."

“And God’s will crumbled.”

“And so, Akaashi and the man —whose name eludes me somehow, sorry about that— drive to the vet. The kitten lives. It is white as snow. It meows in reply to everything you say. It is three am and the sun is coming up in two hours. There is a kitten somewhere in his apartment, meowing at each discovery it makes, And there is a friend, newly made, sleeping peacefully on his couch, dead to the world in a way only alcohol can make you.”

“Rule number two of immortality is to not fall in love, obviously. This is easy enough for Akaashi, he’s never felt anything except a familial fondness for humanity. The kitten stays at his house. The other man visits for the kitten. Later, the man visits for Akaashi and the kitten. Even later, the man visits for Akaashi. Despite the differences in their lifestyles, they make the effort to stay present in each other’s lives.”

“Then, there is a confession. The confession is accepted. Akaashi wakes up, not alone this time, and realizes what he’s done, what he is doing. He curses himself once, and then cannot find it within himself to care.”

“After all, Akaashi is God.”

“When the divine realms find out, there is outrage. Some conspire to overthrow Akaashi. They never succeed, because _of course, they don’t_ , but then they begin to target Akaashi’s lover, and all hell breaks loose. Not literally, heh. But it’s pretty close.”

“Soon enough, traitors get their hands on Akaashi’s lover. Akaashi finds him, human body winded from all the running it took to find him, and his lover is bleeding out in an alley. There are maybe ten minutes left of his lover’s life.”

“Akaashi does the unthinkable. In hurried and fumbling sentences, Akaashi reveals who he is, and how he can save him. It would be permanent, and afterward, the man would live as long as Akaashi did. Loopy from the blood loss and shock, but with the same clarity in his eyes as the night that had started it all, the man agrees.”

“All it takes is a moment, and there is no more pain. The blood spattering the brick walls is gone. The man feels younger than he’s felt in years. The shock clears, and before the man can form a coherent thought, warm arms wrap around him desperately, shoulders shaking from barely contained sobs.”

“They stay at a nearby hotel, uncaring at how expensive the room is, almost giving the staff heart attacks on their way in, but five stars on some shitty plaque don’t matter after a near-death experience.”

“In the morning, they have breakfast brought to their room and have a very long talk. It turns out okay. They get married. It’s just filling out the paperwork in a court, but there are surprisingly more guests than either of them thought where would be. Apparently, they weren’t that subtle all those Friday nights in the bar. Ha!” Hinata watches the other man's face split into a grin. He cards his hands through his silver hair to calm himself before continuing.

“Eventually, Akaashi and his lover move away to avoid suspicion as to why the two never age, and even later, there are two missing person cases, forever unsolved. Akaashi decides that his time in the mortal realm is done for now. His lover comes with. And everyone who disagrees is... pleasantly dealt with.”

The two of them crack up at that. The wrath of a god is no joke. But the god in charge? Oh, shucks.

Rapidly approaching footsteps fade in from down the corridor that the two are seated in. “Bokuto, what did you do?! You KNOW I get alerted when immortals swear! You never swear! Are you o- oh.”

The man that Hinata has been talking to all this time— Bokuto— grins up at the god in charge.

“You told him, didn’t you.” It’s not a question.

“Same hat,” Bokuto explains.

“You and your slang. Sometimes I wonder why I married you, you absolute creature of chaos.”

“You love me, Akaashi!” Bokuto beams back at his lover.

A begrudging grumble of agreement has Hinata realizing what just happened.

Akaashi sits on the young immortal’s other side, ready to listen, ready to talk to him, and... _oh._

It’ll probably be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> but there never seems to be enough time  
> to do the things you want to do, once you find them  
> i've looked around enough to know  
> that you're the one i wanna go through time with


End file.
